Wild life department officers had been given a flying squirrel ( Pepurista - Lanka) from Kurunegala, Mahawa area.

A man from Kurunegala Mahawa who had found this very rare species two weeks ago had handed it over to the wild life officers from Pandulagama, Anuradhapura, who had been taken to an veterinary office.

Veterinary Surgeon Chandana Jayasinghe and his team had to make a great effort to save the life of the animal, which was suffering from hunger and dehydration.

However it is now in good health after treatment. "The physical health of the animal is improving," he said.

The flying squirrel is a species found in the wet zone of Sri Lanka and is to a large extent similar to the long-tailed squirrel (seiuruc mac rourus) Veterinary surgeon Chandana Jayasinghe said that this is a species which exists in the wild.

The flying squirrel is a mammal but it is capable of floating in the air when it wants to move from one tall tree to another. Its body is formed in such a manner as to enable it to fly without wings.

It is a nocturnal animal living on fruits such as Durian and Rambutan. There are two varieties of flying squirrel the black and grey and the one found from Mahawa is a black one.

Veterinary surgeon Chandana Jayasinghe said that action would be taken to release the animal to a wet zone forest early